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Notre Dame football: Reasons Drew Pyne could start for the Irish in 2022

By Daniel Morrison

Oct 9, 2021; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Drew Pyne (10) throws a warmup pass before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 9, 2021; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Drew Pyne (10) throws a warmup pass before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /
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GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 01: Quarterback Drew Pyne #10 of the Notre Dame Football warms up before the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2022, in Glendale, Arizona. The Cowboys defeated the Fighting Irish 37-35. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 01: Quarterback Drew Pyne #10 of the Notre Dame Football warms up before the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2022, in Glendale, Arizona. The Cowboys defeated the Fighting Irish 37-35. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

The Notre Dame football team has a big question to be answered at quarterback this offseason, and here is why Drew Pyne could win the job.

It’s safe to say that 2021 was a weird season for Notre Dame football at quarterback. It was probably the weirdest since 2012 when now offensive coordinator Tommy Rees wasn’t good enough to start over the high-upside Everett Golson, but he did need to consistently come in and save the day.

This time, though, Notre Dame football was balancing three quarterbacks, all of whom failed to live up to Ian Book’s legacy.

Jack Coan was brought in as a graduate transfer from Wisconsin. His job was to act as a bridge between Book and highly touted freshman, Tyler Buchner. Buchner has great natural ability and is a dual-threat, but he didn’t even play his senior year of high school, due to the pandemic.

That was too big a jump to ask him to make going into his first year on campus. Drew Pyne, meanwhile, put together a good Spring and made the case that he should be the next man up at quarterback. When that time came against Wisconsin, he turned some heads.

Pyne is athletic and played confidently. He didn’t flinch and the offense was more effective with him on the field.

Still, he didn’t win the job. All three quarterbacks would play next week against Cincinnati. None of them played well, but Pyne was the best of the three. There were calls for him to start going forward but Brian Kelly pushed back on this notion.

Coan remained the starter and by the midway point in the season, the offense found a flow using Coan and Buchner, not Pyne.

It’s been widely assumed that Tyler Buchner is going to take over as Notre Dame’s starter in 2022. Since Marcus Freeman hasn’t gone to the transfer portal for a new quarterback, and plenty have been available, he must be happy with the talent already on Notre Dame’s roster. That might not just mean Buchner, though. Drew Pyne has every right and ability to win the starting job this offseason.

Here are three reasons that may just happen:

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